Steamboat rolls past Delta

Kelly Labor and Linsday Ellis provided the fireworks early Monday as the undefeated Steamboat Springs High School girls soccer team rolled to another win.

Steamboat, 13-0 overall and 12-0 in league play, used a steady attack and strong passing in the first half to build a 4-0 lead against Delta, which is 6-7 for the season.

In the second half, the Sailors laid back a bit to work on some passing and ball control, but they still managed to add another goal en route to a 5-0 win.

After the game, coach Rob Bohlmann was happy with the win but said he wanted his team to look sharper as it heads toward the post season.

"It's a little stale right now," Bohlmann said. "I'm not really sure how we are going to fix it, but we are going to try some different things."

The game-winning goal came in the first three minutes Monday's contest on the muddy high school athletic field.

Labor attempted a crossing pass that ricocheted off of several Delta players before landing in the back of the goal. Labor was credited with an assist on the play, but no Steamboat players were credited with a goal.

Labor scored her 23rd goal of the season a few minutes later, however. She fired an unassisted effort past the Delta goalkeeper after collecting a rebound in the front of the Delta net.

Five minutes later, Steamboat increased its lead to 3-0 when Lindsay Ellis got a nice pass from Ann Barney. Ellis fired the shot to the back of the net for the first of her two first-half goals.

In the second half, Steamboat toned down its attack, but Labor managed to fire a shot to the back of the net five minutes into the period to wrap up the scoring for the day.

The win seemed to come easily for the Sailors -- maybe too easily for Bohlmann's liking.

"We need to reach inside ourselves and raise our level of play if we want to be successful in the post-season," Bohlmann said.

The coach was glad to see his players score the early goals against Delta, but he expects Battle Mountain and the teams Steamboat will see in the early rounds of the playoffs to be much stronger.

"It's a tough time of year," senior Jenna Conlin said. "There are a thousand things going on right now, so it's hard to focus on any one thing."

Still, she hopes the team's four seniors can find a way to get the team fired up for the final two games of the season and the start of the playoffs.

Conlin said the team has fallen into the habit of coming out hard early and then letting up down the stretch.

"We (the seniors) should be getting our team pumped up for these games," Conlin said. "It's getting toward the end of the year, and it's our job to motivate the team -- we've been here before and it's definitely our role."

Monday's win improved the team's record to 13-0 with games remaining against Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain.

Steamboat's next game will be against Eagle Valley at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Dudley field.